They finally did it. After many years of whining by a VERY tiny minority, Major League Baseball has finally put the kibosh on the Cleveland Indian’s mascot - Chief Wahoo.
Starting in 2019, the Cleveland Indians will no longer display Chief Wahoo on their uniforms. Not only that, but the MLB will no longer sell any merchandise with the Chief Wahoo logo. The Chief is still welcome in the stands and will be available at the team shop, but the MLB will no longer “officially” recognize the long-loved mascot.
My feelings concerning Chief Wahoo have been expressed previously. If you want to read about some history and my reasonings why we should KEEP Chief Wahoo, please take a few moments to read it (or, hopefully, REread it!)
As far as the why, I think that is pretty self-evident: Cleveland has been granted the privilege of being home to the All-Star Game in 2019. Coincidence? I think not. I think that the only way Cleveland was granted the honor was IF they allowed for the “retirement” of the mascot.
Now, there are people who like the block “C” logo, and people who don’t. Not to sound like an advertisement - which this is NOT - but there IS a very tasteful alternative. GV Art & Design has come up with a design that removes the Chief, without removing the heart:
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| Classy, tasteful, and very Cleveland! |
If you want to read more, check out this brief article from a local Cleveland station: http://m.cleveland19.com/story/37376116/should-this-cleveland-indians-logo-replace-chief-wahoo
I could go into a tirade over the fact that the minority voice is calling the shots in our society, regardless of what the majority thinks. I could talk about the fact that there is a generation (or two) with VERY thin skin out there. I could mention that trying to rewrite history does not make it better. I could even mention the 1st Inning of the Ken Burns’ documentary “Baseball” that proved how the racism of a MINORITY of white players kept black players from being a part of the MLB for YEARS.
But I won’t. I’ve got too much class (NOT!)
But I will say that I’m sure the MLB will be very happy with the loss of revenue from Chief Wahoo merchandise sales (sarcasm font). Because, the MLB is NOT racist. And neither am I. And if you think that because I’m wearing Chief Wahoo that I am? You are wrong.
And an idiot.
I gotta tell ya, I'm suffering from 'Offended Party Fatigue'. We're descending into a situation where the only alternatives will be 'Team #7' and 'Team E'. But even then someone will complain that 7 is a prime number and the caricature of the team logo '7' is demeaning to prime numbers. 'E' could be offensive because it's in the 'n' word. It's all just static to me any more. Protest something that matters, like the fact that native Americans have been conned into self-herding into ghettos called 'reservations' that they call - without a hint of irony - Nations.
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